The Resistance
by My name's AC
Summary: Coulson tries to protect his family from what the humans called the Utterance of Destiny. After Ultron and a big fish oil pills problem, Inhumans were being found and taken away by SHIELD for testing. Coulson starts to lose faith, feels betrayed and useless. After all, he was only human but his wife and their daughter weren't. (All characters included) - COMPLETE
1. Author's Note 1

As many of you may know, the fish oil plot used in the season 2 finale alludes to the Terrigen Bomb arc of the comic books. I decided to use the whole Inhumans plot, imagine Philinda as Skye's biological parents and seize the Agents of SHIELD season 2 finale/pre-Civil War timeline, mix-and-match everything and create this fanfiction. I wasn't going to post this now but since the season 3 premiere is getting closer and I'm going to mention many Inhumans related stuff, I decided to start posting it so I can avoid people's reviews comparing how some things I wrote are similar to the show's plot.

So, this fanfiction takes place during present time but WITH THE FOLLOWING DIFFERENT DETAILS:

\- Skye is a child (and some other characters she'll meet are also children);

\- This also means that there's no super team flying around on the BUS;

\- Bahrain didn't happen;

\- May and Coulson are married;

\- Coulson didn't die during the Battle of NY (but the Battle happened, just like the whole Sokovia and Ultron plot);

\- But, there's no HYDRA! That means SHIELD is what it was before the whole HYDRA reveal, meaning Fury's the boss (sorry Coulson!);

\- And most important one: May is Inhuman. She teaches martial arts at the local gym and is also the leader of a small Inhumans group (kind of like Jiaying, except May isn't nuts). Her Inhuman abilities involve:

1) Omnilinguism (aka Allspeak) – the ability to understand and translate any language, spoken or written, regardless of origin;

2) Intuitive Aptitude – ability to instantly learn and understand the complexity and exactness of powers, organisms and objects;

3) Nerve manipulation – ability to manipulate (cause/increase/decrease) the nerves and nervous system of oneself or others (includes senses, reflexes, voluntary/involuntary movements)

4) Emotion manipulation - ability to sense and manipulate emotions, feelings and moods whether by increasing, decreasing, causing or even manifesting them in a physical level.

The title of this fanfiction comes from the Muse's sixth studio album, _The Resistance_ , and all the chapter titles are song titles from different albums from said band. The cover image of the fanfiction is from Muse's third album _Absolution_. Notice the blue shadows of the people and the man staring at them? Remember Raina's quote about the 'blue angels that fell from the heavens'? Well, that's just convenient, isn't it? " _The artwork_ [of Absolution] _can either been seen as people coming down to Earth or leaving Earth, it's open to interpretation_ " (quote from the band's drummer, Dominic Howard).

For those who are still reading, this is the end of my explanations! After all of this, I hope you still want to read the story. As you can see, I put a lot of effort into it.

(Unrelated note: In case no one noticed yet, I love Muse… You've never listened to them? Stop everything and give them a try. I'm sure it'll suit the liking of some of you).

If you like the idea of what this fanfiction will be, follow, review, whatever, just let me know.

 **Chapter updates: Saturdays, every two weeks.**


	2. Exogenesis: Cross-Pollination

**Exo – prefix of Greek origin meaning "outside, outer, external"/ Genesis – Greek, noun, meaning "an origin, creation, or beginning". Therefore, Exogenesis (similar to the idea of panspermia) is the hypothesis that life originated elsewhere in the universe and was spread to Earth.**

 **Cross-pollination, also called allogamy, occurs only when pollen is delivered to a flower from a different plant.**

* * *

"Skye, stop putting the peas aside," Melinda said. "You'll have to eat them no matter what."

"Ugh, but mom," the girl whined, "I don't like peas."

"You have to eat vegetables to grow strong and healthy," the woman insisted while serving the girl with two chicken nuggets.

"Look," she jabbed some of her French fries with the fork and showed them to her mother, "I'm eating vegetables, right? Potatoes are vegetables."

Melinda smiled, "Peas are vegetables too. Don't exclude them."

"Mom, where's dad? He's not coming to eat?"

"I'll get your father," she told her daughter as she walked out the kitchen, "and you better start eating those peas."

"Fine," Skye muttered, stirring some peas around with the fork.

Phil was in the living room, eyes glued on the TV screen, watching the news so engrossedly that he didn't even notice his wife walking in. He only looked back when she placed her hands on his shoulders and gave them a soft squeeze.

"Dinner's ready. We're waiting for you."

"Uh, sorry, I was watching the news," he shook his head and turned off the TV. "Got distracted."

Melinda sighed and took a seat next to him on the couch, "It doesn't help watching the news, you know that."

"I know," Phil looked down at his hands, rubbing the palms together. "But it's just… they're already picking up Inhumans in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It's only a matter of days till they charge towards New York."

"I don't fear it, Phil. Let them come, let them see what they want, draw whatever conclusions they need."

"But I fear it. There're riots and protests going on everywhere, SHILED is going after you guys with the purpose of _keeping everyone safe_ ," he air quoted. "This feels just like Stark and Banner's peacekeeping program and we've all seen where it led."

"This will be worse than Ultron."

"How can it be worse?" Coulson frowned, turning his head to look at Melinda. "An AI lifted a city skyward, intended to crash it into the ground to cause the human extinction and –"

"But everyone knew who the enemy was," her voice faded when she carried on, "not now. Now people don't know who to trust. There's fear and suspicions towards everyone. And the World's Mightiest Heroes are falling apart."

He shook his head as he spoke, "You can't be serious. You are _not_ a threat. None of you is. I mean, look at us. We married, we have a child -"

"I may not be a threat but I can't tell you for sure that all Inhumans aren't threats. Eva Belyakov proved me wrong. Almost –" Melinda sighed, "almost got Katya to go insane. Can you imagine if… I would have never forgiven myself, Phil."

"Alright, I know that there're bad seeds everywhere, but what are you suggesting? That I just simply let you walk out that door just because you're an Inhuman and the government is scared of what they don't know?"

"I don't have to walk out that door," Melinda swallowed hard and exhaled. "You know they'll come to take me, whether we want it or not."

"Well," the scowl on his face deepened, "I'm not letting them come in here and take you. Not without a fight."

"You'll have to," she rushed to speak, not letting him argue back. "They know about me but since Skye hasn't undergone Terrigenesis yet, they don't know about her. And you need to keep her safe because it doesn't take a genius to put these things together. You need to keep a cool head for Skye's safety, Phil."

"How can I keep a cool head when I know that the agency I work for is coming to hunt you like you're a terrorist?"

"Phil, listen to me. The fact that it's SHIELD that is coming after us just makes you and Skye more vulnerable. They'll suspect every of your moves. So, please, promise me you'll keep our baby girl safe."

Phil sighed and paced around, scratching the back of his head.

"Phil," Melinda insisted, getting up to her feet, following his pacing with her eyes. "Promise me."

He turned around swiftly and closed the distance between them, hugging Melinda tightly in his embrace, "Of course I'll keep her safe, but -"

"No buts. Think only of her. I'll be alright, you know it."

He put a kiss on the top of her head and heaved a sigh, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I know things will be alright." She took a step back and smiled feebly, "Now, let's have dinner before Skye wonders why we're taking so long and asks her too many questions."

When they walked into the kitchen they saw the gleeful sight of Skye smiling, playing around with her fish-shaped nugget. Phil managed to smile despite the worry and the sad anticipation of knowing that he was about to lose part of his family.

"What took you so long?" she asked, taking a bite on the nugget. "Food's getting cold and mom hates when food is getting cold and we don't come to dine."

"I'm sorry, angel eyes," he put a kiss onto her hair and took a seat, "dad lost track of time. But we're all here now," Phil casted a discreet look at his wife.

Melinda directed her eyes to her plate and served herself some of the dinner, avoiding her husband's sad eyes.

"Uhm, mom?" the girl crooned with her mouth full and resumed once she swallowed some of the food, "Food's really delicious."

"I'm happy that you like, but don't speak with your mouth full. It goes everywhere."

Skye giggled and wiped with her napkin the small bits of food that had flown out of her mouth and landed on the table surface. Phil stole a French fry from his daughter's plate, without even trying to be discreet. He wanted – _needed_ – to stir the mood and let happiness take over their dinner. He was already depressing with anxiety thoughts and the fact that their seven-year-old girl was too young to be through what was coming just killed him inside even more.

"Oh," she whined, "that was mine."

Phil popped the fry into his mouth and smirked, "You don't share with dad anymore?"

"I share if you ask."

"Alright. Here, my apologies," he picked one of his fries and put it on Skye's plate, "I ask for one next time."

"I don't want it now," she said and moved the fry to Melinda's plate, "I'm giving it to mom because she's nice."

"But I offered that fry to you, not your mom."

"It's called sharing, dad."

Melinda chuckled silently as she ate. Phil stared at his daughter and leaned over to tickle her sides. Skye squirmed and screeched in happiness.

"You smart little monkey."


	3. Dead Inside

Melinda found her husband with his eyes glued to the TV screen the following night. This time he was even more apprehensive about the news he was watching.

"Did you know?" he asked, looking back at his wife. "They've captured all of the Inhumans at your retreat."

"I know. I was there this morning and warned them, told them not to resist."

"You just had been… What if… what if they had taken you away too?"

She found herself speechless. She had never met anyone who was prouder of his job than her husband. He was the human epitome of what SHIELD had been founded upon. He followed each order without questioning why; he trusted everyone at the agency that much. Phil was a good man at heart, with strong principles, dedicated to a cause, hard worker. But now? Now his loyalty was questionable. He wasn't sure who to trust anymore, _if_ to trust anyone at all. And despite his wife's reassurance, Phil didn't believe in the oath he had taken years back anymore. So Melinda was keen on the idea of proving him that everything he always believed was still reliable. She was looking forward for the agents to pick her up and then return her back, in the exact same shape they found her, and show Phil that he could still trust the people he worked for. She knew that there were bad seeds everywhere, but upon looking at Phil, she believed (or wanted to) that everyone in the agency was like him and that she'd be alright.

"I'm going to tuck Skye to bed," she simply said, leaving the living room and walking upstairs.

Skye was coming out of the bathroom and upon seeing her mother she said, "I've brushed my teeth already."

"Good. Now let's go to bed. It's getting late for you."

The girl let out a yawn that proved right what Melinda had just stated. But, before crawling under the bed sheets, Skye reached for her white stuffed bunny. She lied down in bed and hugged the bunny on her side. Melinda's lips drew into a small smile as she walked to take a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Skye, baby, I'm sure you've seen on the TV that things are a bit strange everywhere."

The girl simply nodded and remained silent.

"Do you know what's going on?"

"I asked dad," Skye disclosed. "He says bad people are going after good people." Her eyes filled with tears when she asked, "Are they coming to hurt us too?"

"That's not what's happening. Dad explained it all wrong. There are no bad people. They work for the government and they are aware that some of us, normal people, are different and want to investigate that. That sounds right, doesn't it? They have to protect people against bad things. You know that not everyone is a good person."

Skye nodded her head in agreement. Melinda tucked her into bed, hoping that the gesture and the momentary silence would bring back some sense of calmness. What she was about to tell her wouldn't be easy to hear, let alone easy to understand.

"You know, I asked you about this because I need to tell you something. You and me, Skye, we're human, normal people… but we just have the potential to be more."

"To be more?"

"Mom will try to explain it to you," Melinda seized the time to breathe in and out thoroughly. "No one knows really well how did the story started, but for many, many years, up until now, people believe and tell the story of the blue angels who fell from the heavens."

Skye adjusted her position and asked in a low voice, "Angels?"

"The ancients called them Kree. They wanted change and they left some crystals so that some of us could transform, become better. They believed only the worthy could possess such powers and that only the enhanced ones could inherit the Earth."

"Are we Kree?" the girl asked almost in a whisper.

"Not exactly. But we're descendants."

"Then what are we?"

"We're Inhumans."

"Dad too?"

Melinda pursed her lips and ran her fingers through the girl's hair, "No. Only you and I."

"Are those bad people after you and me or dad?" Skye asked on the verge of tears.

"No one is after anyone," Melinda stroked her daughter's cheek. "You don't have to worry."

They heard loud knocks on the door and the Phil talking loudly. Melinda leaned over to put a kiss on Skye's forehead, slightly smiling afterwards, "You should get some sleep now, bao bei."

"Mommy…" the girl silently wailed.

"Sleep, Skye," Melinda said as she turned off the lights and let the door close behind her.

Skye sat up in bed right after her mother exited. Were the bad people after her and mom or after dad? Either ways, she didn't like the options. What had they done wrong to be hunted down?

She heard a blend of voices coming from the floor below, her father's being the most prominent. Skye immediately knew things were bad – dad never raised his voice. She swung her feet off bed and down on the wooden boards, walking slowly to the door. As she pitter-pattered along the hall, the voices got louder. She stopped once reaching the staircase handrail and crouched, her hands wrapping around the wooden balusters as she watched the scene quietly.

They were there for mom. She gasped once she remembered Melinda telling minutes before that the two of them were Inhumans. If they were taking mom, were they going to take her away too? She'd miss dad so bad. Skye shook her head; mom and dad always promised that they'd keep her safe. But she'd miss mom if they'd take her away. Dad was trying really hard in convincing the suited people not to take her away, but they seemed indifferent to the plea. Mom remained calm, as always, telling him she'd be alright. That was when Skye took a more attentive look at the people who were in the house. She knew them… they were Jasper, John and Aunt Maria. Skye couldn't understand anything.

Melinda eventually walked out the door, despite Phil's insistence and Maria assured him they'd bring her back in a matter of weeks. She promised she'd keep her safe and that she'd make sure they'd treat her right. Phil was a bit relieved with Maria's promise, but he still wasn't accepting the situation. The last thing he saw before closing the door was his wife being taken away and the neighbors outside their doors, watching the scene.

He leaned against the door and closed his eyes, trying to recover his breath and calm down. Upon hearing a sound coming his way, he opened his eyes and saw Skye simply standing in the middle of the staircase, with teary eyes.

"What did mommy do wrong?" she cried. "Why did Aunt Maria take her away?"

Phil walked to his daughter and picked her up in his arms as she cried more and more. Skye buried her face on the crook of her father's neck, her fingers knotting in the material of his shirt.

"Aunt Maria promised she'll bring mom back really soon. Do you trust Aunt Maria?"

"Why did they take her? Am I going away too?"

* * *

 **I'm sorry (not really, but ok) for the heartbreak. Things needed to be shaken up (got the pun...? xD).**

 **Leave me a review, tell me what you think of the fanfiction. Reviews are extremely important.**


	4. Time Is Running Out

**I know things are very restricted to these three characters, but once the plot starts to complicate, other characters will appear.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy this new chapter. Don't forget to review; I need to hear your feedback.**

* * *

Phil was sitting at a bench in the gym. He wanted to punch a bag and let off the steam but a wave of melancholy had been taking over his whole body, for days now, and made his limbs feel heavy. The door creaked open and then he heard strong footsteps slowly coming his way. He didn't even bother to look and see who was it, keeping his eyes fixed on the punching bag.

"Told the Council that Skye is adopted," Maria disclosed, taking a seat next to Phil. "There's no reason to worry about her safety."

"Good," he blurted somewhat distractedly, nodding his head for emphasis. "Thanks."

"Do you know if she has powers?"

The agent raised his eyes and looked at his superior officer – and friend, "We don't know. Melinda says not all Inhumans get powers. The chances are high but there's no certainty. But I do appreciate your lie to the Council. Skye's already pretty shaken up with all of this, last thing she'd need would be to be forcefully taken away too."

Maria let out a heavy sigh, "I gave you my word, Coulson. We're taking good care of her."

"Your word doesn't matter much to me right now," he said coldly. "I'd like it a lot more if you'd let me see her, or if you'd let her go."

"You don't have the clearance to access the files, let alone be in the labs."

Phil got to his feet and buttoned his jacket, "Thank you for your lie to the Council, Hill."

"Where are you going?"

"Home," Phil told her as he began to walk away. "I don't have Melinda so I have to pick up Skye from school," he turned around, "and it's not like I'm doing much around here anyways. Besides, I feel everyone's eyes burning holes in my back. It's really uncomfortable."

"Coulson…" the woman called in vain.

"See you later, Hill," he said, stuffing his hands in the pockets and walking to the door.

* * *

Once again Phil found his daughter waiting for him by the school's gate, holding the straps of her schoolbag, eyes fixed on the ground. He tried his best to smile but Skye's sadness always left him heartbroken. He could tell she was more than fed up with the fact that every time she asked about Melinda and said she missed her, he only had two answers: he'd either say she was coming home soon, or that he missed her too. She asked him every night why didn't he go and get her mother back. Phil never had a convincing answer to give her.

The neighbor's kids were playing out in the street when Phil and Skye arrived. The girl looked at them as she got off the car.

"Why don't you go and play with them?" Phil asked, resting his hands over her shoulders. "I'll make us a nice snack and I'll call you when it's ready."

Skye shrugged and gave her father her schoolbag so he could carry it inside. Not even five minutes later she was standing next to him in the kitchen.

"You're already back here, monkey?" he asked, looking up from the sandwich he was cutting.

"Their mom told them to go inside," she replied, taking a seat. "She said she didn't want them around me."

Phil placed a sandwich before Skye's seat and sat across from her. People were going paranoid over any little thing. He should have known better. In four days he, and many other drivers, had had redirected their routes to their workplace some five times because there were protests going on in the streets and the police was forwarding the traffic somewhere else. But what made Phil feel even worse was the way the neighbors looked at them ever since SHIELD picked up Melinda at their house. People eyed them suspiciously and kept their distance like if they had an infectious disease.

"Dad can play with you if you want," he offered a faint smile.

"S'okay," she answered apathetically and resumed eating quietly.

He sighed thoroughly. That was the moment Phil realized he had to run away with Skye, maybe to his hometown in Wisconsin. He couldn't trust anyone around to leave Skye with, safely. But he knew and trusted people back in the quiet seaside city where he grew up. If he'd be assured that Skye was safe, then he'd try to get Melinda back. He had to get her back.


	5. I Belong to You

It was still early in that Saturday morning, but Phil and Skye had already had breakfast. Phil was rifling through his daughter's closet while she watched him picking out her clothes, sitting at her bed. He laid over the bed, right next to her, a pair of dark wash denim shorts and a gray T-shirt. To finish her attire he left at the foot of her bed, on the floor, a pair of navy blue laceless low tops.

"Are we really going to see mom?" Skye asked for the third time.

Phil, very patiently, responded (again), "Yes, angel eyes. We are really going to see mom."

"But why do we have to go see her?" she wondered, taking off her pajama's top. "Why can't she just come home?"

The man sighed and stooped to be at her eye level, "These things are complicated. It's grown-ups' stuff."

"Grown-ups are strange."

He chuckled quietly, "I know. Now," he got up to his feet, "finish getting dressed. Aunt Maria should be here any minute now."

Phil walked to his bedroom to put a suit on – his usual attire – and make the bed. Once the doorbell rang, Skye hurriedly finished fixing an unruly bit of her side swept bang with a snap clip and stomped down the stairs.

"Hi Aunt Maria!" Skye enthusiastically greeted as soon as she opened the door.

"Hey there, quake," the woman replied back almost in the same tone. She picked up the girl in arms and walked inside, "How are you?"

"Really 'cited 'cause we're gonna see mom. I miss her lots."

Hill smiled in amusement all because of Skye's excitement, "Well, she's misses you too. She's been talking on and on about you."

"Is she coming home soon?"

"Yes."

Skye cocked her head, "For real?"

"You don't trust me, short-stuff?"

"I trust you," she admitted. "You always tell me that dad will come home when he goes to work to places really far away and he always comes back."

"Good that you trust me," Hill said, putting Skye down on her feet, "because I was starting to doubt your loyalty to me."

Skye giggled.

"Now get your father, will you? Tell him I don't have all day to wait."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Phil announced, coming down the stairs in a rapid pace to meet their guest. "And now I'm here. I think we can go. Skye," he looked down at his daughter, "are you ready?"

She nodded firstly but then swirled on her heels quickly, "Forgot the drawing I made for mom upstairs."

Phil didn't have the chance to tell her to go and get it; Skye was already climbing up the staircase in running steps. She returned shortly, proudly waving the paper sheet and walked immediately to the door. The two adults shared a look and exited after her.

* * *

Hill walked in a fast pace, taking left and right turns, leaning her access card to the multiple sensors they've encounter along their way. Phil tried to peek around, to understand what sorts of things were being performed in that facility but he couldn't see much. SHIELD was that secretive, he knew so, and he figured whatever was happening there was being conducted behind the thick doors they didn't cross. The white dullness of the long corridors and the deafening silence made him shudder and think he was at a psychiatric hospital. But looking down at his daughter, as they walked hand in hand, made him lose any fear or apprehension; she just wanted to see her mother, and she trusted her father and her faux aunt to keep up with their promise.

One of the SHIELD's medics crossed paths with them, and as soon as he saw Phil and Hill he said, "Agent Coulson's wife is in break room 2 if you're here for the visit."

Hill nodded shortly and guided them to the break room. She pushed open one of the thick double doors and stepped aside, allowing Phil and Skye through. The girl let go off her father's hand and walked in, anxiously started scurrying through the faces of every person in the room, trying to find her mother. Phil was frozen by the entrance, gazing the room full of patients in dull gray garments. They all seemed so relaxed and well. Something else that struck his attention was the room itself. The walls were white, same color as they were throughout the whole building, but the room looked comfy, with tables and chairs, some couches as well, and there were books and board games at everyone's disposal. They were even granted the chance to have a view to the outside through the few windows lined along the wall.

"It's better than what I expected," he confessed.

"And what exactly were you expecting, Coulson?" Hill asked curiously. "We're treating them alright, they're not lab rats."

"I'm glad SHIELD thinks so. It helps me to slightly trust the agency again."

The Commander sighed and told him she'd be waiting outside for them. Phil concentrated on trying to find his wife, walking slowly across the room. Melinda was surrounded by a small circle of Inhumans that were learning from her a few breathing meditation techniques. Some of the Inhumans were a bit more apprehensive to be in that SHIELD's facility than others, so the woman put her skills to good use and tried to keep everyone relaxed.

"Mommy!" Skye rejoiced once she found Melinda, making a run for her.

The woman grinned and stooped down, waiting for her daughter to get to her embrace.

"I missed you so much, bao bei."

Skye clung tightly to her mother's neck, even after she lifted her off the ground, "I missed you too, mommy."

Melinda saw her husband looking everywhere, trying to figure it out from where Skye's voice had sounded. Once their eyes met, Phil walked to her, draped his arm around his wife and pulled her and their daughter closer to his chest.

He pressed a kiss to the top of Melinda's head, muffling into her hair, "How are you?"

"I'm good. Told you not to worry, didn't I?"

Phil took a step back, allowing Melinda to look at him, "I just can't help it."

He cupped her cheek and kissed her tenderly.

"Ew," Skye whined, covering her eyes with her free hand.

The two chuckled quietly as they parted the kiss.

"Sorry about that," Phil apologized, stroking her hair. "By the way, don't you have something for mom?"

"Yeah," she handed the paper sheet to Melinda, "look. I made it all myself with those cool crayons Grandma Julie gave me."

"It looks really beautiful. Thank you," the woman put Skye down on her feet and after taking a look at her husband's face, she suggested, "See that boy over there, Skye?" she pointed. "His name is Lincoln and he's the only kid in this ward. Can you go and play with him for a while? Mom and dad need to talk, alright?"

"Alright," the girl promptly agreed and walked to take a seat across from the boy playing backgammon alone.

"How are you really?" Phil asked, grabbing one of her hands on his, noticing a large bandage covering its back where an IV had once been. "What have they been doing to you?"

"They've been treating everyone nicely, if you must know," she said. "It's just medical exams, collection of samples and psychological evaluations."

"Of course," he breathed deeply, "standard procedure to categorize and create a profile in the Index."

"So you know what this is about," Melinda placed her hand on his forearm and gave it a slight squeeze. "You've got nothing to worry about, Phil. Maria said some more three or four weeks and I can go back home."

"It's been two weeks already and I mis – we miss you so much, Mel."

She leaned forward and pecked his lips, "I miss you both you as well. But if this is what we have to go through so that we can live in peace again, then let's bear with it for a while more."

"I don't think we can live in peace anymore. People are going crazier as the days go by," Phil looked at his daughter and then back at his wife, telling her, "Skye's all alone. Ever since SHIELD picked you up, all of our neighbors look at us like we're murderers and tell their kids to keep their distance from her. Apparently it's the same at school. Every day she's waiting for me by the gates, crestfallen," he sighed thoroughly.

Melinda heaved a sigh as well and told him, "Maybe we should move once I'm out of here. Start a new life where no one knows about us."

"I've thought of that too." His voice was much quieter when he disclosed, "And I've thought of going away with her for the time being. She's been having a hard time. And so am I."

She nodded her head instantly, "You and Skye, and many other people, shouldn't be to blame if some people are too thick to understand this situation. You should go."

"But it's just while you're here," he reinforced. "Once they release you, we come to pick you up and we start a new life somewhere else." His lips drew into a smile, "Starting thinking of some cities you'd like us to live in. Or countries."

"I will," Melinda smiled in return. "But where are you planning to go for now?"

"I thought about going to my parents'. They must be shaken up about all of this and I think it's best if we stick together."

"Yes, it is. Now, can you call my little girl to come back here? I miss her so much and I'm sure she has a lot to tell me."

"Sure," he said as he stood up and walked to their daughter.

* * *

 **Leave your reviews. Next chapter Melinda will be knowing her fate...**


	6. Butterflies and Hurricanes

**Chaos theory is the field of study in mathematics that studies the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions - a response popularly referred as the butterfly effect. This effect evaluates how a small change in one state can result in large differences in a later state. In simpler words, the theory describes how even the smallest of changes in present conditions, like the flapping of a butterfly's wings, can cause a chain reaction and have a significant effect in the future, like a hurricane.**

* * *

Two weeks had gone by since Skye and Phil's visit to SHIELD's facilities. Melinda had been continuing her routines of keeping Inhumans relaxed, and had been helping them in their transition phase. She didn't know what was going to happen but it'd be best that, whatever their upshot was, that everyone could at least control their new found abilities. Therefore, the break room was quiet; a large number of Inhumans was gathered in a circle in the middle of it. They all had their eyes closed and were breathing in and out slowly.

"Good breathing patterns," Melinda praised as she walked among them. "Try to maintain deep, slow breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Count to five as you relax your muscles."

A nurse approached Melinda, gently tapping her shoulder, "Deputy Hill wants to have a word with you."

The woman nodded and further instructed the remaining Inhumans, "Keep up with the exercise, gradually move up to other muscle groups. And remember, listen to your body."

The nurse guided Melinda to an access-restricted area. After walking along a few halls, the nurse finally stopped, eased open a door and gestured Melinda to walk in. There was nothing else but a table and two chairs; not even cameras. Hill was sitting at one of the chairs with her hands resting over a file, fingers intertwined. Melinda looked back once the nurse closed the door and left the two alone.

"Is everything alright?"

"Take a seat," Hill gestured to the chair across from her. "We need to talk."

"Maria," Melinda's eyes started welling up, "is everything okay with Phil and Skye?"

"Yes. There's nothing to worry about. What I have to talk with you is business. SHIELD would like you to be a consultant for us."

"A consultant?" Melinda wondered aloud.

"Yes," Hill said, opening the file and showing it to Melinda. "This is the Cocoon, a training facility that SHIELD developed in these past weeks. SHIELD can't, and won't, keep the Inhumans in here forever. But it's not like we can send you back to your houses and let you resume your lives. People still fear what they don't understand and we have to assure tranquility -"

"Tranquility?" Melinda furrowed her brows, closing the file. "Isolating us will bring tranquility?"

"Yes," Hill responded, unfazed. "Humans will feel that the government agencies is keeping up with their promise of protection and the Inhumans won't be harassed everywhere they go. It's the best suggestion we've got to offer. For now."

"Alright, I can understand that. But I still don't understand why you are telling me this. What does me consulting for you has to do with this training facility?"

"Melinda," Hill's tone was now softer, her lips drawing into a small smile, "you had a small community of Inhumans under your command and we've seen what you're doing with the Inhumans we've got here. Everyone is calm and cooperative. If it wasn't for you, things wouldn't be so easy. We'd like you to transfer all the Inhumans we have here to this training facility until the end of the week, and we'd like you to be their guide; lead them, keep order, help them master their powers."

"And what happens when I feel that they're ready?"

"We don't expect people to adapt to their abilities overnight, so, when the time comes and they're ready, maybe humans have more acceptance for you and you'll be able to live a free life again. Our goal is to contain, neutralize or recruit. We are not holding anyone captive. SHIELD just means to please all the parts involved the best we can."

Melinda smiled faintly as she looked at the table surface. Shifting her gaze back to Hill, she affirmed, "Thank you for keeping up with your promise. It was hard for me to watch Phil doubt everything he ever believed in. I think he'll be very pleased to know that he can still believe in SHIELD and in what it stands for."

"I can't blame him," Hill admitted. "He had to powerlessly watch you being taken away. He always tries his best out there in the field to keep the world safe, and suddenly the world start eyeing him differently. It must have been hard on him."

"What will be his role in all of this?"

"He'll be in charge of picking up new Inhumans from around the globe and taking them to the Cocoon. Even though the fish oil pills were withdrawn from the market, a lot of people have consumed them; many have changed and remain hiding. We need to bring everyone together."

"Have you talked with him?"

"Not yet. I'm on my way to Wisconsin this afternoon," she slid Melinda's phone over the table. "But you can talk with him now. I'm sure you'll want to. The timing may not the ideal, but I'm sure you two will make it work," Maria told her, handing her a small envelope before grabbing the file she had brought and walking to the door.

Melinda looked back, watching Maria leaving out the door without further explanations. Once she was alone in the room, she opened the envelope, not sure of what she would find in it. Tears immediately dropped from her eyes when she pulled out the ultrasound. She grinned widely staring at it, running her fingertips over the scanned image of their baby.

She reached for her phone and called her husband. She couldn't stop grinning, impatiently waiting for him to pick up.

"Hello?" he said in a wary tone. He didn't know if it was Melinda calling or someone else using her phone.

"Aìrén –"

"Is it really you, Mel? What's going on? Is everything alright?"

"I have great news."

"Tell me," he nearly begged. "Are you coming home?"

"Sort of. Maria is on the way to meet you at your parents' today, so she'll tell you about it. What I have to tell you is something else… Remember how we've been talking about expanding the family for almost four years now? It's… it feels surreal the time it has passed. After New York, it never seemed to be the right time. It never felt like it was safe enough to bring another child into the world. And even though now it's the best time –"

"Are you…?" Melinda could literally hear him smiling.

"I'm holding the ultrasound right now. Five weeks long, apparently."

"We're having another baby. I…" he was so ecstatic he couldn't find the words to speak. "I can't believe it. I can't wait to see you and to hold you and… You know I love you more than anything in this world, don't you?"

She bit her lower lip, "Wǒ yě ài nǐ. But tell me, how are you and Skye?"

"We're doing alright. We've been talking with your parents. They're alright too, worried, but alright. Your mother has been talking with Hill. From what I picked up, she wasn't too nice with her."

"When is my mother nice?"

Phil had a small chuckle. "I can't wait to tell Skye about the new arrival. She's gonna be so excited… When are being released?"

"By the end of the week. We're being moved to a training facility. SHIELD offered me a job as consultant. They want me to be a transitioner, help them control their abilities, be their guide."

"There's no one better than you to help them."

* * *

One week after being moved to the Cocoon, all the Inhumans were settled and were starting to adapt to their new routines. Melinda was in charge of helping with the transitions processes, and she was trying hard to make everyone feel comfortable in their own skin, helping them control their abilities. She was more than suitable for the task as she could intuitively understand the exactness of everyone's powers, and could manipulate emotions and the nervous system in order to keep everyone relaxed. Phil and Melinda talked about exposing Skye to the mist and agreed that it'd be beneficial if she'd undergo Terrigenesis. They were under a controlled environment, Melinda could help her daughter through the transition, and Skye was at the right age to transform: old enough to understand, young enough to learn.

Melinda and Skye were sitting on the couch in one of the training rooms of the Cocoon, waiting for Phil. Even though the oil fish pills had been removed from the market, it was SHIELD that kept them locked and contained, away from the general audience's hands. The man was on the way to the storage room to get Skye one of those pills that would put her through Terrigenesis. In the meantime, Melinda tried to explain the process to Skye, and was still ascertaining if that was really the girl was willing to go through. Skye was Inhuman, but that didn't mean that she'd want to be one, and if that was the case, Phil and Melinda wouldn't insist. Skye was only seven-years-old, but she had the right to decide if she wanted to transform or not.

"There's no right or wrong answer, Skye," Melinda explained, holding the girl's hands on hers. "I know that you can't understand much of this but you have the right to choose and now it's the best age for you to transform. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I wanna be like you, mom," Skye confessed in a low voice but with a big grin.

"Alright," Melinda pulled Skye to her lap. "What's going to happen seems scary, but it isn't. You will form a cocoon around yourself. Do you know what a cocoon is?"

"No."

"A butterfly isn't always a butterfly. It starts out as a larva and it then forms itself into a cocoon. A process called metamorphosis happens and the larva becomes a butterfly. The same will happen to you. Once your metamorphosis is finished, the cocoon will break and you'll be changed. You'll feel sick and nauseous. There'll be this intense pulsing, like your heart is in your head. You'll feel different and you'll release all the accumulated energy trapped inside you. And then you'll feel relieved." Melinda tucked a lock of hair behind Skye's ear, "You don't have to be scared. Your father and I will be here."

"Mom?" Skye crooned, "Is the baby in your belly Inhuman too?"

"I don't know. Maybe it is, maybe it's not. We'll only get to know after he or she is born."

"But you're Inhuman and I'm Inhuman too," she mused.

"But your father isn't, and maybe this baby will take after him and be human. But that won't mean anything," she put a kiss on Skye's temple. "Your father and I love you and this baby the same way, human or Inhuman."

Phil was back with a fish oil pill and a glass of water. Melinda put Skye down on her feet and grabbed the pill and the glass of water, approaching her daughter. She went down on one knee, being at her eye level, and placed the capsule in her palm. Skye grabbed the glass of water and looked up from the pill to her parents; both offered an encouraging smile, and so Skye pushed the pill down her throat with a big gulp of water.

Melinda gently pulled on her husband's arm so that the two could back away a few steps. Skye's body started to slowly cocoon. She looked down at her feet as they turned into stone, feeling her heart pulsing fast. Melinda had assured her everything would be alright, and that that was a normal reactions, but Skye couldn't help but to feel fear swallowing her. Stone completely covered the girl's body and Phil felt anxiety flowing through his bloodstream.

"Melinda?"

"It's alright," she told him, eyes fixed on the stone figure of their daughter. "The cocoon will break."

Just as she said it, the stone started to crack slowly. Skye arched her back, violently breaking the cocoon. The girl clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms, as she breathed in thoroughly, everything around her shaking. Melinda and Phil hold onto the doorframe until the tremors stop and watched Skye's body going limp. Phil rushed to his daughter, squatted in front of her and hugged her before she fell to her knees.

"Did it work?" she asked.

Phil had a small chuckle, kissing her hair, "Yes, angel eyes. It worked."

Melinda caressed Skye's hair, "You did well, bao bei. I'm so proud of you."

Skye clenched the fabric of her T-shirt, "I wanna throw up."

"It's normal," her mother explained. "Let's get you to your room. You need to rest."

As soon as Skye was tucked into bed, she drifted into a dreamless sleep, feeling absolutely exhausted. Her parents watched her sleep for a while, making sure that she was okay. They'd have time in the morning after to talk about Skye's transformation.

"So," Phil blurted out, "earthquakes?"

Melinda smiled, "I guess Maria knew better when she nicknamed her quake."

* * *

 _Two weeks later_

Lincoln and Skye hopped and laughed as they ran around the training room, attempting to catch a baseball out of the air while Seamus was moving it around with his telekinetic powers. Melinda entered the room and stopped watching the two kids happily playing. She watched them with absolute delight, knowing that they were finally at a place where they could be themselves, a place where everyone was the same.

"Seamus?" Melinda called, drawing the man's attention to her. "It's time for Lincoln and Skye's training. Could you give us some time?"

"Absolutely," he promptly replied, letting the baseball fall on the floor. Lincoln and Skye raced to catch it, competing to know who was faster.

"Excellent control of your powers," Melinda praised. "I like what I saw."

Seamus couldn't hold back the proud smile that graced his face, "Thank you. Take care, kids," Seamus said as he walked out the door.

"What are we learning today?" Skye asked ecstatic, running in little hops to her mother.

"Today you're learning control and focus," she explained. "There's no use in exploring new aspects of your abilities if you can't control them. You'll be learning the basic commands between brain and body: it's important that you are able to execute what you imagined in your head. You need to have control over your powers and you need to be able to direct them to what you intend. You still remember what happened last week, don't you?" she turned to Lincoln.

"I almost burned the place down," Lincoln confessed.

"And I knocked down a wall," Skye said after feeling her mother's gaze on her.

"So, to avoid hurting people or damaging things, you need to practice. Let's use the baseball," Melinda continued, receiving the ball from Lincoln. "I want you to pass the ball between you two using your powers, without harming each other or destroying things. But before," she raised her tone as the two kids were already poised to run to opposing sides of the room, "let's do some relaxation exercises; you two are too excited. Come on, back to back."

Skye and Lincoln leaned back to back, as they were told, and closed their eyes. They were familiar with the exercise already, and were completely at ease with each other. Melinda squatted by their side, resting her flat hand on their chests, so that she could control their breathing patterns and nervous terminations.

* * *

"I think we're having a boy," Melinda mused aloud as she changed her shirt, gazing herself in the mirror. "I didn't put on this much weight when I was pregnant with Skye."

Phil came up behind Melinda, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek, "Or maybe it's just a big girl growing in there."

"As long as this child doesn't sit on my bladder like Skye did, I'm okay," she said, causing the two of them to smile. "What's got you worried?"

He sighed deeply and took a seat on the bed behind them, "The meeting with the President is in two days. I don't think Fury is going to convince him to let SHIELD handle the Inhumans matter."

"Worse comes to worse, the President decides that SHIELD and the ATCU should work together," Melinda said as she turned to him, buttoning her shirt.

Phil snorted, "I'm pretty sure President Ellis will give all authority to the ATCU. He created this task force, and for all intents and purposes, SHIELD doesn't seem so reliable anymore. The Avengers parted ways, Stark and Captain are on different sides about the accords, -"

"Fury can do it, Phil."

"If there's one thing Fury is incapable of is diplomacy."

"That's why he always has Maria by his side," Melinda offered a small smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked his lips, "Don't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, Phil."

He smiled weakly, wondering, "How can you always be this calm and optimistic?"

"You give me strength. Skye gives me strength. This baby," she grabbed his hand and placed it over her small pregnant belly, "gives me strength. Helping these people who saw themselves as monsters, who didn't understand who they were, helping them finding their purpose gives me a purpose. Sometimes it's not easy to be this optimistic and strong but thinking about you and our family is like an instant shot of hopefulness."

Phil grabbed her hands on his and kissed its palms, "You are the strongest person I've ever met in my entire life. That was one of the first things that made me fall for you." He peppered her face with kisses, "I love you so much it hurts sometimes."

She kissed him deeply, "I love you too."

* * *

Phil feared the days that followed the President's decision. As he expected, he handed over the Inhumans emergence problem to the ATCU, the special task force he created to neutralize alien threats. Phil didn't feel comfortable with President Ellis' decision of giving the ATCU full license to act with whatever authority necessary. Moreover, the fact no one had the slightest idea of what Rosalind Price's agency was doing concerned him. He couldn't sleep after the President's press release, fearing the hour that Price would stroll through the halls of the Cocoon and take everyone to their labs.

He awoke on the floor, feeling woozy, his world seemingly spinning around. He thought that he had passed out because of lack of sleep. The training facility was too quiet and when he picked up his phone to check the time, he realized he had been blacked out for some long hours now. Phil tried to get up quickly but wooziness forced him to fall back on his butt and get his bearings. Once recovered, the man started walking around the halls of the facility.

There was a strange odor in the air; it smelt like chemicals. The first room he inspected was his office room. The whole room was trashed, his computer was gone, and so were all the files he had on the Inhumans, including the files that contained information about possible Inhumans that he and his team were going to pick up. Panic took over him. He started running through the halls of the facility. He found SHIELD agents lying on the floor. Approaching them, he realized that they were in deep sleep. That was when he recognized that the odor in the air was of a knockout gas.

All the rooms were empty, no signs of any Inhuman. They had released a sleeping gas through the ventilation system that put everyone to sleep. After that, it was easy to get pass the security measures and take away all the Inhumans. Phil didn't know how to react. He leaned against the wall but his legs felt so weak that he ended up sliding down wall, sitting on the floor. He had been through that once; Phil didn't think he was strong enough to go through the same situation again. And this time was worse: he lost everyone, including his pregnant wife and their little daughter.

* * *

 **A thousand apologies for not posting earlier; I did set up a schedule but as usual, I don't do well with deadlines… xD The truth is that I'm rewriting the chapters I had already in advance, meaning, plot is going to be different than what I originally planned. I will start incorporating some of the things that happen on the show on this fanfiction.**

 **On an unrelated but still relevant note: how awesome it is that Muse have a song called "Butterflies and Hurricanes" and Agents of SHIELD had an episode called "Chaos Theory"?**


	7. Unnatural Selection

Phil was sunk down in his office chair, staring at the wall covered in paper sheets. His forearms were resting on the padded armrest, his right hand hanging off the edge of the padded chair, holding an empty glass of whiskey. The only audible sound was the soft ticking of the melting ice cubes as he stirred them around in his glass. He had been looking at those papers for hours now. A day and a half had gone by since the break in, all agents had been sent home, only Phil stayed, mainly because he had nowhere to go. Their house in New York was sold and he wasn't even considering the thought of going to his parents' house.

Groaning in despair and anger, he reached for the whiskey bottle over the desk and filled his cup again. He didn't know what to do. Phil Coulson was known to be a brilliant tactician, but now he was completely at loss. He had dug up all information he could find on the ATCU and Rosalind Price. He found nothing about the agency, but he found some interesting and concerning things about her. Using different aliases, she had been a member of different agencies. From the CIA, to NASA and the MI6, that woman was unstoppable. But there was one name that struck Phil's attention: Margaret Campbell, marital status: widow. She had been married.

He knew he had read that name somewhere else. After a lot of thinking, Phil realized that he had read on Lincoln's file that his mother's name was Margaret Campbell. Phil followed every lead to ascertain if that was a coincidence or not. As he couldn't find the mother-son connection right away, he dug everything on Mr. Campbell. Alexander Gilbert Campbell was a cardiologist. He contracted cancer two years before and passed away. Using all resources he had available, Phil managed to confirm that Alexander Campbell was Lincoln's father and, ultimately, that Rosalind Price was Margaret Campbell, Lincoln's mother.

The information was important enough to potentiate a strategy, a plan of attack, anything, but Phil couldn't even form rational thoughts. He didn't know what his next move should be. His brain was a complete mess, his body reaching the point of exhaustion and stress. He would have destroyed his office to get rid of his anger if only someone else hadn't done for him. And he would have cried if only the tears would spill from his teary eyes.

His office phone rang and rang and rang. Phil didn't even have the strengths to get up and take the call. It could be important but at the moment, he just didn't care. The answering machine beeped and then a familiar voice dripped into the quiet room.

"Hey, Coulson it's me," It was Tony Stark. "I just heard about what happened to Melinda and Skye, and to everyone else. I'm sorry. I just want to say that, even though I've got my too much on my plate because of the Accords thing, I'm here for you. If you need anything, give me a call."

Suddenly Coulson realized what he needed to do. Darting to his desk, he dialed a number on his phone and (im) patiently waited for the person on the other side to pick up.

"I need your help," he blurted.

Phil could almost hear Natasha raising her brow, "Emotional?"

"Technical. You're the only one I trust with this. And the only one I know that can pull it."

"I'm a bit busy at the moment, Coulson."

Nonetheless, he explained, "I need your help to break into the ATCU's HQ. We have to cause a distraction, hack their system, so that we can go in undercover and retrieve information from their severs."

"The whole world knows who I am, knows everything about SHIELD. Or whatever's left of it. There's not much room for stealth."

"I'm not suggesting that we'll linger around in their headquarters for an hour. Quickness is our priority. Besides, don't you still have a photostatic veil?"

"Still," the redhead mused aloud.

"What is the problem?"

"I've got nothing else to lose, but you –"

"Neither do I," he told her. "Can I count on you or not?"

Natasha sighed, "Where are you?"

"At The Cocoon."

"Give me two hours," she said before hanging up.

* * *

Two hours later as agreed, SHIELD Agent and Avengers member Natasha Romanoff walked in Coulson's office at The Cocoon. He was already expecting for her, plan sketched and the needed gear was on top of his desk. Natasha threw a quick glance at his trashed office room.

"You need to pull yourself together. Anger will lead you nowhere."

"I didn't do this. Here," he said, handing her a flash drive. "I've hacked their systems. All you have to do is walk in their headquarters, pretend to solve the problem and retrieve every bit of information you can into this flash drive. We'll keep in touch through comms," Coulson continued, giving her an earpiece while getting his in his ear, "I'll be outside. Any problem, you tell me."

"This is piece of cake," Natasha said.

* * *

Lincoln's eyes fluttered open. His whole world was spinning around, everything was blurry. He blinked to get his bearings and rubbed his eyes. The first image that entered his eyes was the red hospital tag he had on his wrist. Tugging on it, he read that it had written his name, blood group, birth day and a very strange word – Electrokinesis – which was the designation of his ability. Only then Lincoln noticed that he had thick, black gloves on. He tried to take them off but he felt too weak and woozy. He couldn't generate electrical sparks either, which scared him. Lincoln was very much used to feel the tingling electricity flowing through veins that not feeling or being able to produce them was frightening. Skye was lying on the floor right next to him, apparently sleeping. Lincoln noticed she also had gloves on. He thought of shaking her and wake her up, but decided to let her sleep. Pressing his hands flat on the floor, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. The boy didn't get the chance to look around the containment pod.

"Hello," a tiny, husky voice spoke. He noticed that the word had sounded funny in her voice; she had an accent.

Lincoln turned to find from where the voice had come from. It was a girl, about his age, sitting behind him, back rested against the wall of the pod. She looked pale and tired, her lips were chapped, and she looked like she didn't eat in days.

"I'm Jemma," she introduced herself.

"I'm –"

"Lincoln," Jemma said. "I know, I read your tag. Sorry," she sketched a weak smile.

The room was cold and dry. Lincoln shivered and rubbed his bare arms. He and all the other kids were wearing a black T-shirt, and a pair of shorts of the same color, both garments being loose and slightly oversized.

"I'm sorry if the room's too dry and cold. It's just, this way Grant and I can't use our abilities." Showing Lincoln her tag where it read Hydrokinesis, she explained, "If the room's dry, there's no water that I can manipulate."

The boy nodded, taking in the information, "And Grant? What does he do?"

Jemma directed her look at the boy balled up at the opposite corner of the room, his all body shaking like a leaf on the wind, "Pyrokinesis. He can control fire."

"Oh," Lincoln let out distractedly, sparing a glance at the other two kids in the room. "And who're they?"

One of the boys was standing on the corner of the pod, eyes shut tightly and fists clenched, nails digging into his palms. He had electrodes glued to his forehead, neck and the back of his hands, and all were connected via wires. Lincoln couldn't see the face of the other boy. He was sitting next to Jemma, back resting against the wall as well, but he was hugging his legs to his chest, head lowered, buried in the crook of his arms.

"The one on the corner is Lance. They shock him when he tries to use his powers," Jemma swallowed hard. "He does things with his mind. And this is one is Leo," she resumed, looking at the boy next to her, "his ability is acoustikinesis."

Upon hearing his name being mentioned in the conversation, Leo lifted his head, which caused Lincoln to crawl back, disturbed and frightened. He had a muzzle covering his mouth. It was made out of metal and was secured to his head with leather straps. Three of the thin metal bars were in his mouth; two were poking the inside of his cheek, and the other one kept his tongue immobilized. His eyes were fossilized with fear, and the boy hid his head again in the crook of his arms.

"Māma? Bàba?" Skye whined as she woke up.

Lincoln looked back and immediately crawled to hug Skye. She was crying, big tears streaming down her face. She was scared, and so was Lincoln, but he didn't let it show.

"Where are we, Linc?" she whispered. "This place is scary. Where's everyone?"

"We'll be okay, don't worry."

Just as he told her that, a squadron of heavily armed man marched down the hall and opened the pod. Keeping the kids under gunpoint, they ordered them to step out of the containment unit and to form a single, straight line and follow them. Lincoln and Skye were the last ones of the queue, orderly walking after the other kids who apparently were already used to that. Skye grabbed Lincoln's hand and he offered her a smile, trying to keep her calm.

The kids were guided to an infirmary and stopped at the door, with the exception of Grant and Jemma. The two of them walked to a gurney and started stripping off their clothes, proceeding to lie down in the gurney in their underwear. Lance took a step forward and one doctor removed all the wires and electrodes. After that, he mimicked Jemma and Grant's action. Leo got his muzzle removed and did the same as all the children before him.

Then it was Lincoln's turn. He swallowed a lump in his throat and forgot how to breathe as the doctor approached him. The man removed Lincoln's gloves and the boy felt an instant relief. The power that was trapped inside of him was freed. He unintentionally released an electric spark that blacked out the room. One of armed men pressed his gun against the back of Lincoln's neck, causing the boy to bury his neck between his shoulders. Luckily the backup generators brought the power back.

"There's no need to scare them," the doctor said, placing a hand on Lincoln's shoulder while shooting the armed man a reprimanding look. "That's your gurney," she carried on as she pointed. "Strip off your clothes and lie down."

Skye also got her gloves removed and was forwarded to her gurney. Lincoln and Skye were scared, fear running through their veins and nervousness pooling in their stomachs. Grant, Leo and Jemma didn't seem as scared, maybe because that wasn't their first time in the infirmary, but they were frightened as well. The armed men left the room and four more people in white coats walked in. The doctors approached each of the kids and pricked a needle in their arms. Darkness swallowed them and they all drifted into a heavy sleep.

Before finding out how to enhance their abilities to the maximum, the doctors, who were actually scientists, needed to find out how to repress the kids' powers, in order to avoid chaos. Adult Inhumans were hard to control, but Inhuman children were much harder. Children were unpredictable.

* * *

The sounds that entered Melinda's ears were nothing more than a blend of distorted sounds. She could barely open her eyes but she could listen to at least three different voices floating around her. Melinda could also feel something, very feebly, cutting her skin, needles being pricked on her body, but she couldn't move at all. Her head hurt in an unusual way, like her brain was melting down. She had no control over her abilities whatsoever and she didn't have the strengths to get up. Melinda was strapped down on a metal table, the marks of the straps that held her down engraved as bruises on her wrists and ankles.

"She's pregnant," a voice said.

Melinda felt a tear rushing down her face. She didn't even want to think of the possibility of them hurting the baby. Strangely, the team of scientists was shocked with the discovery, and called a superior officer to tell them what they should do about her.

"Give her the same you gave the other ones, modafinil, desoxyn, methylphenidate, paxil, Prozac and antidepressants, and then send her to the room as well."

"Sir, this woman is pregnant. Most of those drugs have effects on the pregnancy –"

"Does it seem like I care?" the man said with a low, sinister voice. "Inject her."

Melinda was blacked out for a couple of hours and as soon as she regained consciousness, she was forced to stand up and was dragged along long, dark halls. She was pushed into a room, where all the Inhumans that were at The Cocoon and many others were. All heads turned to look at her, and they all started walking to Melinda. Looking at the floor, she saw a lot of blood and many corpses on the floor, having no idea if they were dead or just hurt. Having no control over their bodies, the Inhumans restarted a fight. They were under psychotropic several drugs that induced their violent behavior. No one was dead in that room (their resistance was stronger because of their Inhuman nature) but people were hurt. In the end, only Melinda was standing, blood everywhere from her hands, to her clothes and the floor.

Melinda was stung in the neck with a syringe which made her pass out again. A group of people began dragging all the unconscious Inhumans away to the infirmary to heal them and repeat the procedure again. They needed to find the best ones to send on their mission.

* * *

Phil took a look around Rosalind Price's apartment. He was pleased to know that, after breaking into her home, he triggered a silent alarm, which would draw her to come home. He couldn't wait to confront her for having taken away from The Cocoon, still debating if he'd shoot her or choke her with his bare hands. Walking around, Phil paid special attention to Lincoln's bedroom. It was a nice bedroom, making him believe that Rosalind actually cared for her son. Or maybe not; maybe Lincoln only had a nice bedroom but he was left under the care of a nanny. However, Phil was unsure about his assumptions. There were photos around the house, most of them of Rosalind and Lincoln.

He couldn't wrap his mind around Rosalind's motive. Why would she taken everyone away when President Ellis decided that the ATCU would handle the Inhumans emergence? And why would she kidnap her own son when she hadn't even showed up once to visit him? SHIELD allowed visits to the Inhumans.

"Apologies for barging in uninvited," Phil spoke, showing up in the living room upon hearing a female voice, "but you just sort of did the same to me."

"Phil Coulson," she offered a wry smile, dismissing the police officers and the man that accompanied her. "How did you even find my address?"

He smirked, showing Rosalind the flash drive, "Hacked your systems, walked in and got some information out of your servers."

"I was just on the phone with your boss. He didn't mention to me that you are a hacker."

"I'm not here to play games, Ms. Price. Or do you prefer Mrs. Campbell?" Phil took especially pleasure in watching her jaw tighten. "What is the ATCU working on?"

"A cure. We want to help these people return to their normal selves so I suggest you'd stop playing games and hand over the Inhumans to the ATCU."

Phil felt his blood boiling, clenching his fist, "You got a lot of nerve, don't you? President Ellis gave you authority to act on the Inhumans emergence. Why did you order your men to break into The Cocoon, put everyone to sleep and take them away?"

Confusion dawned upon Rosalind's face, "I didn't… So that was why Director Fury was calling me? You think I did any of this?"

"Who else could have done it? I don't understand the reason why you did it. Was it to get revenge on SHIELD for having taken your son into custody? You know, you were allowed to visit him."

She was still perplexed, "I didn't order anything," Rosalind finally let out. "The ATCU would only get the Inhumans from SHIELD next week." Her eyes widened and she looked for her phone to make a call, "Lincoln…"

Phil froze; that was the expression of a concerned parent. If she was worried about what happened to her son, then it meant that she didn't know where he was. If the ATCU had kidnapped the Inhumans, Rosalind would have kept Lincoln safe. Instead, her face mirrored pure terror. So, it wasn't them.

"If you didn't take them away, then who did?" Phil asked, eyes focused on the woman.

Rosalind shook her head, "I don't know. But whoever did it will pay for it."

* * *

 **Next chapter (chapter 8) is already posted. There you'll find a list with all the abilites of each Inhuman so far introduced.**


	8. Author's Note 2

**TYPES AND ESPECIFICATION OF THE ABILITIES:**

 **Grant Douglas Ward (Pyrokinesis) -** ability to excite the atoms within an object, possibly enough energy to ignite the object. Pyrokinetics are also capable of generating flames, increase the temperature in their proximity, create flames, and endure extreme heat and flame without being harmed.

 **Jemma Elizabeth Simmons (Hydrokinesis)** \- paranormal psychic ability to control and manipulate water whether it's solid, liquid or gaseous. Hydrokinetics are able to control, manipulate and alter the molecular state of water. They are also able to manipulate the surrounding water in the atmosphere, freeze water, or even make really thick clouds of mist, steam or fog.

 **Lance Hubert Hunter (Telekinesis)** \- psionic ability to move, manipulate and control a multitude of people and objects with the mind without physically touching them, especially over long distances. Depending on the user's skill and power, they may be able to levitate themselves and other objects (including heavy objects), and form protective shields.

 **Leopold Finlay Fitz (Acoustikinesis)** – ability to create, shape and manipulate sound whether to mimic, intensify, hush, distort, strengthen, echo, speed up, or slow down sound. At low frequencies, sound is potentially fatal to living beings by causing internal damage, while high frequencies cannot be heard by normal humans but can be used for sonar-like effects.

 **Lincoln Alexander Campbell (Electrokinesis)** \- ability to create, shape and manipulate electricity, a form of energy resulting from the existence of charged particles (such as electrons or protons) which give the user control over electric fields, electric charges, electric currents, electronics, and electromagnetism.

 **Melinda Qiaolian May-Coulson (Pathokinesis)** \- ability to manipulate the emotions, including feelings, moods, and nerves. Users can also intuitively learn things (somewhat similar to mind reading when applied on people).

 **Skye Daisy Coulson (Geokinesis)** \- ability to manipulate the land or ground. This includes seismic waves, mentally controlling rocks, making creatures out of dirt, etc. but does not extend to control of plants.

* * *

 **ACTUAL POWERS:**

 **Grant Douglas Ward -** Fire Projectiles: ability to make constructs out of flame (fireballs being the most common) and hurl them at opponents. Also includes shooting a steady stream of fire from the hands; Welding and Fusing: ability control a flame to perform the most delicate welding jobs like fuse craters, holes, or openings in walls, floors, ceilings, or the ground; Burning: The ability to burn, scald, singe, scorch, vaporize, evaporate, and incinerate virtually any being or object by touch.

 **Jemma Elizabeth Simmons** \- Amphibious Physiological Adaptation: the body was specially developed for underwater conditions, granting specialized blood circulation to withstand freezing temperatures and highly developed vision; Aquatic Healing: the body can heal damaged tissue faster and more extensively (accelerated healing at its peak while immersed in water and diminished when out of contact with water/completely dry); Amphibious Breathing: can breathe indefinitely underwater and can also breathe on land without the aid of breathing devices; Acute Hearing.

 **Lance Hubert Hunter** \- Force Fields: ability to create protective force shields that could deflect even the most powerful of attacks; Inanimate Disintegration: cause inanimate objects in their presence to disintegrate; Bio-Blasts: fire enormously powerful waves and blasts of telekinetic energy which are generated from the body's extrasensory potential; Psychokinesis: move or manipulate physical matter without physically touching it.

 **Leopold Finlay Fitz** \- Sonic Scream: ability to shatter solid objects with a scream; Vocal Disorientation: ability to change someone's balance, by affecting their equilibrium; Vocal Unconsciousness: ability to affect the fluid in someone's ear causing the person to go unconscious; Echolocation: ability to emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them, and use these echoes to locate and identify the objects; Acute Hearing.

 **Lincoln Alexander Campbell** –  Paralysis Inducement: ability to immobilize targets completely or partially, causing them to be left without movement and sensation. Making motor functions and muscle movement unavailable, the victim may freeze on the spot or crumple to the ground; Electric Aura: ability to surround themselves in/with electricity for defensive and/or offensive purposes; Electronic Disruption: disrupt electronic signals, causing cell phones and other electrical appliances to work erratically, or fail completely.

 **Melinda Qiaolian May-Coulson** \- Omnilinguism (aka Allspeak): the ability to understand and translate any language, spoken or written, regardless of origin; Intuitive Aptitude: ability to instantly learn and understand the complexity and exactness of powers, organisms and objects; Nerve manipulation: ability to manipulate (cause/increase/decrease) the nerves and nervous system of oneself or others (includes senses, reflexes, voluntary/involuntary movements); Emotion manipulation: ability to sense and manipulate emotions, feelings and moods whether by increasing, decreasing, causing or even manifesting them in a physical level.

 **Skye Daisy Coulson** \- Seismic Energy Manipulation: ability to generate powerful waves of vibrations which can produce effects resembling those of earthquakes (usually generated from the hands); Vibration emission: cause avalanches, earthquakes, mudslides or quicksand; Gravitational Upforce: drastically decrease the gravity in area, causing people to float or leap great distances involuntarily; Acute Hearing.

* * *

All middle names were made up, apart from Ward's. I've added more abilities to the characters that already have powers on the show (Skye – Daisy – and Lincoln). I've also drawn influences from comic book characters to build the Inhuman powers seen on each of the children:

Leo Fitz – Sean Cassidy (Banshee)

Jemma Simmons – Aquaria Neptunia (Namora)

Grant Ward – James Taylor James (Hellfire) - I thought of this way before the theories that Ward might be Hellfire...

Lance Hunter – Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch)

If there are any other Inhumans introduced in this fanfiction, you will find all information on their abilities in this chapter.


	9. Citizen Erased

"East side, clear," Banks said over comms.

Then Rosalind's voice spoke in Phil's ear, "North side, clear."

"Ditto," Phil sighed, lowering his gun and looking back at the three ATCU agents that accompanied him. "Meeting point in ten."

"Copy that," Banks and Rosalind muttered in unison.

Turning to face the agents, he ordered, "Give me a sec?"

They nodded and one of them said that they'd be walking to the meeting point. Phil was left alone in the infirmary-like room, looking around. There was no one anywhere in that building, but there were signs that proved that people had once been there, how long ago Phil wasn't sure. Putting his gun back in the holster, he sighed and rubbed the back of his head, despair gnawing him. Those had been three weeks of following leads that led nowhere. He was tired of living like that. He hadn't been given a chance to take a breath in the past months. First SHIELD gathered all the Inhumans, then, as things seemed to be perfect, they were abruptly taken away, but this time, Phil had no idea where they were. And he was even more worried because his little girl and his pregnant wife could be in the harm's way.

Banks and Price were chatting quietly, the other ATCU agents putting their guns and equipment away, when Phil met them outside the building where allegedly HYDRA was keeping the Inhumans. Yes, they already knew that much. HYDRA was infiltrated everywhere, and it was with a big shock that Rosalind learned that Gideon Malick, a person she considered a friend, with whom she had worked for more than a decade, was a traitor. He was the one present at the meeting with President Ellis and he managed to bias him so that the ATCU would be in charge of the Inhumans emergence. He helped design the agency and oversaw the science division, having everything and everyone wrapped around his little finger. They hadn't found out for what Malick need the gifted individuals, but they believed to be close to the answer. Price kept on going back to work at the ATCU, trying to find out about Malick's whereabouts and motives.

"He's on to us," Phil said. "They must have found the tracer on Skye's necklace and have been toying with us all along."

"Coulson's right," Banks agreed. "And if Malick is on to us, you are now treading into dangerous waters, going back to work," he continued, casting a glance at Rosalind.

"I appreciate the concern," she said, rolling her eyes, arms crossed over her chest, "but as far as Malick's concerned, I'm just clocking in for another day. We've got nothing to worry. A few more days and I might be able to find where he really is."

"If it isn't too late by now."

Rosalind placed her hand on Phil's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze, "We're going to find everyone. Your wife, your daughter, my son," swallowing a lump in her throat, she resumed, "Everyone's alright, I'm certain."

Breathing in and out thoroughly, the man looked up and nodded, "Let's hope you're right."

* * *

"Tell me what you see, doctor Kozlov," Malick asked the man that had just entered the room.

Kozlov stood by Malick's side, the two of them watching, through a thick, unbreakable one-way mirror, the commotion in the room adjacent to the one they were standing. With his hands resting comfortably in his pockets, the doctor nodded his head, observing the Inhumans fiercely fighting each other.

"What have been injecting them with?"

Malick looked at one of his subordinates who was also in the room, "Doctor Greer is the one who's been in charge of the experiments. He can answer all of your questions."

The doctor took a deep breath, not particularly liking Malick's teasing tone and turned to the young scientist, "Tell me, what have you and your team have been doing?"

"We've administrated modafinil, desoxyn, methylphenidate, paxil, Prozac and antidepressants on all subjects. Their violent behavior was stimulated and their adrenal gland was affected, causing them to constantly produce adrenaline."

"Did it also lead to enhanced strength, immunity to pain and fatigue and a greatly accelerated healing rate?"

"Yes. That was verified in all of them. Some of the subjects are, however, less capable of fighting than others," Greer casted a glance at the other room, more than half of the Inhumans were already lying on the floor, bloodied.

"So," Malick's voice roared all of the sudden, "do we have a deal, doctor?"

Kozlov nodded his head, "Yes. But I want some of my team members overseeing the administration of the Combat Enhancers on your test subjects. The IGH needs to take part in all experiments that involve our drugs."

"Sure, why not?" Malick shrugged. "Greer, take doctor Kozlov to our labs. The gifted will be taken to you soon enough."

Greer walked out the room with Kozlov, leaving Malick with our HYDRA agents, all of them observing the Inhumans beating each other almost to death.

"Knock 'em out and take them to the lab," the HYDRA leader ordered. "Those who are not willing to comply, put them through the Faustus. After all's ready, fuel the jets and let's head to Gloucestershire."

"And the children, Sir? What do we do with them?"

Malick answered before leaving out the door, "Put them in the containment modules, in an induced-coma stasis, and then send them to England as well. We'll need a big army and they might be useful one way or another."

* * *

Malick strolled leisurely around HYDRA's lab, hands clasped behind his back. All Inhumans were strapped down to metal table, all under their absolute control. After having put through the Faustus method, they all reacted the same way upon hearing the words "one red, two whites, one blue". That was the dosing of pills that the IGH used on all their test subjects: one red to increase adrenaline, two whites to stabilize the heightened level of hormones released into their bloodstream, and one blue to relax them. Malick had been anxiously waiting for the IGH's response to use their drugs; the pills were much easier to use than having to constantly inject the Inhumans. Currently all gifted people had been given the white and blue pills, and once It would get back to Earth and demand an army, they'd be told to ingest the red capsules.

"Sir, we have a problem," Greer said softly, approaching Malick.

"Deal with it," Malick answered harshly.

"It's the pregnant woman," those words made the man stop and walk back a few steps. "She's resilient. We've tried to put her through the Faustus but she somehow manages to block the mental reprogramming. We can't give her the pills."

"Force her, Greer. Her abilities are extraordinary and can be so useful to us, to It."

Greer swallowed hard, "Weimer tried to force her. She put a hand on his forehead and till now he's still screaming and squirming on the floor, in absolute pain. No one can move an inch close to her."

Malick sighed, "She has control of hers and everyone's nervous system. Try to knock her out somehow."

"Sir –"

"Do it!" he barked. "And if the pills don't work on her, put her in an induced-coma and take her to the containment modules where the kids are."

* * *

Phil's office at The Cocoon was filled with ATCU agents, all gearing up for mission. Ever since Rosalind called with intel, having learned that Malick was on his way to England, no one was willing to let that chance slip away. Phil was well aware that whatever Malick was going to do in Gloucestershire might not be related to the Inhumans, but they had to take a shot at it. At the very best they could kidnap him and try to extract information from him.

"Gather up everybody," Banks called. After getting everyone gathered around him, he turned to the monitor on wall. "Listen up, this is a live feed satellite that show us HYDRA's compound outside the castle. They have two trucks that carry seven containers; there are heat signatures coming from it, which means -"

"They have Inhumans there," Phil said.

"We don't know why do they need the Inhumans, but we have to rescue them and stop whatever HYDRA's plan is. Therefore, everyone will be split into two teams: Team A finds the Inhumans and brings them to the Quinjet, Team B stops HYDRA. I'll be leading Team A, Agents Coulson and Price lead Team B. Once Price gets here, Team B will elaborate the inflitration plan. Any questions?" as there were no doubts, Banks resumed, "Alright people, gear up. We leave in less than an hour."

Phil approached Banks and pulled him to a quieter corner of the room, "Rosalind and I need to be in charge of Team A. Her son might be in there, my daughter and my wife –"

"That's exactly why neither of you is going to rescue the Inhumans. Both you and Roz are too close. Believe that I'll do anything at my reach to bring everyone to safety, Coulson. There's nothing I want more than bringing the little guy to safety," Banks inadvertently confessed, swallowing a lump in his throat afterwards.

"You and Rosalind –?"

"Worry only about stopping those bastards," Banks retorted, avoiding dwelling into the issue at the moment. "When are the SHIELD agents coming?"

"We'll pick them up along the way. They're already waiting at the designated location." Phil shrugged as he told the other man, "I only have a handful of agents –"

"We need all help we can get. We've already walked down a long road. Don't give in now," Banks clapped Phil's shoulder and walked to the agents that would be under his orders.

* * *

 **After seeing the IGH and the Combat Enhancers drugs on Jessica Jones, I just had to** **weave it into this fanfiction.**

 **Happy endings are getting closer. Just a little more angst, bear with it. :)**


	10. Nature-1

**As I said in the first chapter, each chapter is named after a song. The song "Nature_1" has different interpretations:**

 **A song about God, saying how he isn't even listening to what people are saying, example in their prayers;**

 **A song about another leader who is destroying the world;**

 **A song about a person who, despite their hard work to the world around them, is not acknowledged. Now they're in a rage, blaming the world for their failure and have plots to create havoc and destroy the world around them to set things right;**

 **A song about a person talking to the mirror, blaming oneself for all the bad things that have happened to them. Looking at what one has become – old, broken, cold – and concluding that this person is made by the world around them.**

* * *

 _HYDRA Labs, unknown location_

Dieter Weimer was still laying on the floor, balled up in pain. Melinda walked around him in a slow pace; the thought of killing him right then and there ran through her head a few times now, but she was always stronger than those thoughts. The effects of the cocktail of drugs that had injected her with were starting to wear off. Slightly easing the door open, Melinda poked her head outside the room. Taking a stroll around, she realized that it was only her and the HYDRA agent in the entire facility. Dragging a chair with her and finding a couple of zip ties, Melinda returned to the room. She pulled Weimer up off the ground and tied him up to the chair.

"Do you want me to stop your pain?" she asked the man, a wicked smile taking over her lips.

"Yes," he gasped, sweat rushing down his face.

"Too bad. I won't. Not until you tell me what the hell is going on."

Weimer archly smiled as well, "Then you might as well kill me. I won't say a thing."

"I won't kill you. People like you get to decide that; that's what makes you killers." She placed herself behind him and leaned over his ear, "I want you alive; I want to let you know what it is like to be alone and despised."

"I'm not alone."

"No, you're right. You've got me," she sauntered around him, facing Weimer again. "Everyone else is gone. They left you behind. You're expendable. And you are at my mercy. I won't even have to hurt you. I can control your nerves, your emotions. You'll want to die, but I won't give you that pleasure."

"That is naive and idealistic, and futile."

"But it is the way it will be," Melinda barked, slamming her hands over his arms that were tied to the armrest. She squeezed them, watching the man writhe and gasp in pain. "And you'll tell me what I want to know."

* * *

 _Zephyr One, European airspace_

"There seems to be a well inside the castle," Rosalind explained, pointing at the screen. "However, the nearest river is almost a half a mile away, which got me wondering how they brought the water up to the castle."

"Aqueducts," Phil concluded.

"Yes, they brought water along there and the up to the well. Now the canal looks like an overflow drain deep in the woods. We should be able to slip into the compound, without anyone seeing a thing. Team A, led by Agent Banks will move on the surface, while Team B, under my and Agent Coulson's command, will move underground. Our only goal is to stop HYDRA," she said, directly a look at Phil. "You should also consider that there might Inhumans under their control and that we should do our best to keep them safe."

"We are not many," Banks blurted, "but if we act quick and efficiently, we might be able to pull this off."

"Buckle up," the pilot said, "we're touching down to pick the SHIELD agents."

* * *

Weimer's screams filled the room. Melinda hadn't physically hurt him, but she had controlled his nervous system to attack themselves. He was experiencing an excruciating pain on his head and chest, his extremities were numb and prickling, his limbs were trembling.

"Do you know that there are three types of nerves in your body?" Melinda taunted, taking particular liking in watching the man suffer. She had even brought a chair to sit on and watch him. "I'll start slowly. The sensory nerves are activated by sensory input, such as sight, sound, feeling, taste, hearing, and relay that information from your skin and muscles to your brain."

Just by touching the back of his hand, she managed turn her sensory nerves hypersensitive. Weimer shut his eyes tight and gritted his teeth; every little noise was agonizing, causing him an almost instant headache.

"Is the light too bright? Is my voice too loud?" she goaded. "I think I'll keep your sensory nerves hypersensitive and move onto the next ones, the autonomic nerves," she got up and walked to him, pressing her hand on his chest. "They control the heart rate, blood pressure, the body's temperature."

The man gasped, feeling his heart almost ceasing to beat, his body temperature drastically decreasing, his muscles slowly paralyzing.

"Did it feel bad? I'll make feel useless now. Ever heard of the motor nerves?" Melinda stood behind Weimer and placed her hand on his back. "They control your movements by passing information from your brain and from your spinal cord to your muscles."

Weimer wasn't exactly in pain now; rather, he was terrified. The way Melinda was controlling his spinal cord was scary, ordering his muscle to perform actions he couldn't fight against. He breathed hard and fast, helplessly watching how his right wrist was rotating externally. A couple more seconds and he would have broken his own wrist. Melinda didn't let that happen, though. Instead, she forced his muscles to stiffen, including his diaphragm. When Melinda noticed that Weimer couldn't breathe anymore, she allowed his muscles to fully relax.

"Are you going to talk?"

"Go to the hell," he mumbled.

Melinda's lips drew into a wicked smile. She pressed her hand on the top of back, and Weimer immediately let out a scream, his right wrist rotating and breaking faster than he could even realize.

"Imagine how many more bones I can break," she warned.

Weimer gulped in some air, "Thousands of years ago, an Inhuman was born on this planet that was destined to rule it, so powerful, so fearsome that others were consumed with dread, and so they banished it from the Earth, sent it through the portal to a distant planet. HYDRA was founded with the sole purpose of engineering its return."

"And why were we abducted? What do we have to do with it?"

"It will need an army. Who better to serve an Inhuman than Inhumans?"

Melinda nodded her head, "So that is why you've brainwashed us and wanted to give us the pills."

"The IGH created those pills, they're called Combat Enhancers, and they do just that, enhance the users' combat capabilities. The right dose is one red, two whites, one blue, and if you tell this to the Inhumans they'd automatically take the red pills and go mad."

"Where are they opening that portal?"

"Gloucestershire," he breathed.

Melinda punched Weimer in the face, causing him to pass out. She then searched his pockets for his phone. She had to call Maria and inform SHIELD.

In less than an hour, after tracing the call, a team rescued Melinda and took her to The Cocoon. Maria had informed her that Phil and the ATCU were out in the field to stop HYDRA and that their plan was to send the Inhumans back to the training base. While SHIELD would be lending a hand in England, Melinda would be receiving the Inhumans, trying to reverse the brainwashing effects.

* * *

 _Gloucestershire, England_

"Jesus," Banks muttered at the sight of an army of Inhumans running towards him and his team. "Don't kill them," he ordered his men, "but stop them for goodness sake."

Before he could defend himself, Banks was being thrown some feet away. He tried to scramble to his feet, seeing the Inhuman approaching him, but he had harshly landed on his back; his vision was blurred and his head hurt. That was when the gifted fell to his feet and someone stretched a hand at him.

"Agent Banks," the woman said, helping him getting up, "Maria Hill, I'm with SHIELD. We're here to land a hand."

"I thought Coulson only had a handful of agents available."

"You can thank his wife for being badass," Maria told him, handing him a gun. "That's an ICER. They're upgraded tranquilizer; should knock them out long enough for us to take them to The Cocoon."

"Got more of these?" Banks asked, inspecting the gun.

"Already handing them over to your agents."

Phil and Rosalind were scrutinizing the interior of the castle, having already taken down a couple of HYDRA agents. They were about to take a turn when they heard a lot of noise and many geared up agents. The ATCU were ready to start shooting.

"They're SHIELD," Phil said in the loudest tone he could muster, given their location, which caused the ATCU agents to stop. "How did you get here?"

Maria gestured her team to start mingling among the ATCU agents and walked along with Phil, "Melinda called me."

"Is she alright?" he couldn't help the smile blooming on his lips.

"Yes. She'll be receiving the Inhumans at The Cocoon."

Phil nodded, pleased to know the news and looked back, focusing on the mission again, "That's Rosalind Price. She's the head of this team."

"You give the orders, we follow," Maria said to the woman.

* * *

"Notify their next of kin and bring them here," Melinda ordered at the ATCU agents that were bringing in more Inhumans. "These people will need comfort and a familiar face when they wake up."

"And if they don't want to come?" one of the agents piped up. "Everyone's calling this Inhumans outbreak the Utterance of the Destiny, and many of these people's families probably despise them."

Melinda sighed, "Bring the ones you can. We are here to offer support and help to those who'll be alone."

When she looked at the entrance, she saw that SHIELD and the ATCU agents were back. Melinda stood still, waiting to see her husband. He entered through the door and they immediately locked eyes. He was alright, and so was she. Shaken up, but both physically alright. Phil squeezed himself through everyone and hugged his wife. He hugged her as tight as he could, wishing he could fuse her into his body so that they'd never be apart anymore.

"Is this finally over?" she asked.

"I hope so," he whispered into her hair. Parting the hug, he kissed her; it had been so long. "How are you?"

"We're alright. And so is Skye. She's still sleeping, but she's alright and should be waking up soon."

"We should be there for that. She'll need us. And we need a break." Looking at the bustling corridors of The Cocoon, he resumed, "They can handle things for a couple of hours."

Melinda nodded and held his hand, guiding him to the room where their daughter was. As they were walking down the corridor, Banks came out of a room all of the sudden.

"Bathroom?" he asked, holding a bowl that contained the few contents that once had been in Lincoln's stomach and that he had just vomited.

Phil pointed, "Fourth door to the left."

Banks nodded and walked to way to the bathroom.

"Mr. Coulson!" a tiny voice called from inside the room.

Both Melinda and Phil stepped in, seeing Lincoln lying awake in his bed, Rosalind sitting right next to him.

"Hey there," Phil greeted with a smile, "how are you feeling?"

"Better now. Luther's been taking care of me, and now I've got Ma here too."

"That's great. We were on our way to check Skye," Melinda said. "She should be waking up soon too."

Lincoln pushed himself up into a sitting position, "I took care of Skye while we were in that place. I didn't want her to be scared."

"Thank you," the man ruffled the boy's hair. "I'm sure she felt safe with you around."

"We should let them go now, sweetheart," Rosalind stroked her son's hair. "They need to be by Skye's side."

"Okay," he nodded and shouted before quickly clamping his mouth, "Bowl!"

Luckily Banks was entering the room again and put the bowl under the boy's mouth right on time.

"We'll check on him in a few hours," Phil said to Rosalind just before leaving with his wife.

* * *

The Cocoon was a lot quieter by now. Almost every Inhuman had a family member or a friend by their bedside and all the agents were napping, absolutely exhausted. The day had been draining; stopping a portal to another world from being opened, fighting what it felt like an army of people, taking others into custody, dealing with a bunch of sick Inhumans… Phil, however, couldn't fall asleep. Last time he fell asleep, his family was gone. But now Melinda was lying in bed with Skye, and he simply smiled at the sight. It was so good to finally have them back. He pressed a kiss onto their heads and walked out the room, hoping to feel sleepy anytime soon. He wasn't exactly surprised to find Banks strolling back and forth in the hallway.

"Can't sleep either?"

Banks turned around upon hearing Phil's voice and heaved a long sigh, "It's…" he shrugged, at a loss for words.

 _They're here, they're safe and we can't get any sleep_ , Phil intended to say. "I know," he simply said. "Get you a drink?"

"I could use one."

Phil tilted his head so that the man would follow him. They walked to his office that was still trashed. He fetched two cups and a bottle of whiskey, and then handed Banks one of the glasses. They were silently drinking; Phil sat at his chair, Banks took a seat at across from him.

"We've been partners for over a decade now," Banks blurted, causing Phil to direct his look from his glass to him. "I was there for her and Lincoln after Alex passed away. She managed to move on. Things between us were starting to go somewhere when this happened."

"I wouldn't give up hope," Phil advised, downing his drink in a single gulp. "This is rock bottom; things will only get better from now on."

* * *

 **We're slowly reaching the last chapter; just two more chapters and this fanfiction is over...**


	11. Exogenesis: Redemption

**Finally, college exams are over and I can restart writing and updating my fanfictions. Sad thing is that next chapter is the last one...**

* * *

 **(9 months later)**

After an intense training session with a small group of Inhumans, Melinda was guiding Skye to hers and Phil's bunk, so that the girl could take a shower. Phil was most likely working in the office, and PJ would be sleeping in their room, in his crib. Phil Jr. was two-months-old and was a very calm baby, allowing his parents to be able to divide their time between work and family. They now permanently lived at The Cocoon, which also housed a few Inhumans that had no family or friends; all the others trained at the facility but lived a somewhat normal life outside the settlement.

Stark was now the new Director of SHIELD as Fury had been dismissed from his duties; he was now chasing after the remnants of HYDRA, to completely get rid of them. Well, he was also secretly building up the agency from scratch because seventy years of history cannot be wiped out just like that, not to mention that the front-line defender of SHIELD was Captain America, who made it clear that he wouldn't give up the fight. SHEILD needed to exist. The accords had been accepted and were now mandatory (for the Inhumans as well), and people all around the world were demanding to know how the governments were dealing with the Inhumans outbreak (someone people called it the Utterance of the Destiny and claimed that the end of the world was near). Despite all the changes that were happening, the Stark and Phil were still good friends.

Phil left SHIELD to fully dedicate himself to the Inhumans and he asked in a favor from Stark. He knew that Phil would fight for to keep his family safe, so he conceded the request. Stark Industries remodeled and equipped the entire Cocoon facility, creating proper training rooms and bunker rooms (some Inhumans had to live there), even providing them with an AI system, HELEN, which would help Phil and Rosalind handle things around The Cocoon. The two of them had created and led an independent and publicly-known agency that would only deal with Inhumans, the Superhuman Tactical Activities Response Squad – STARS, for short. Their main goals were to recruit, train, neutralize, contain or counter any superhuman threats around the world.

Whilst Phil and Rosalind handled the bureaucratic part, being Rosalind mainly in charge of controlling the agency's public matters and Phil of the internal affairs, Melinda and Banks handled the practical tasks; Banks led teams to pick up Inhumans from a bit everywhere across the globe and Melinda trained them. The four of the worked as a well-oiled machine and they all pulled in the same direction as they shared the same concerns and ideals.

"I'll run you a bath," Melinda said. "Don't wake PJ."

"Hi," Skye whispered, tiptoeing to press a kiss on her sleeping brother's forehead. "You're lucky, you know? All you do is eat and sleep. I have to train with mom and she makes me work hard. I know I have to work hard, but still…"

"C'mon, water's lukewarm," her mother called from the bathroom that was attached to the bunk room.

Skye skipped the few steps to the bathroom and quickly stripped off her clothes and entered the bathtub. Phil walked in the bunk, bringing a baby bottle with him. Hearing Skye and Melinda's voice coming from the bathroom, he gently opened the door and peeked inside.

"Banks says he might have a potential Inhuman case."

Melinda nodded, "I'll meet him after I finish bathing Skye."

"Alright. I'll be feeding PJ, so when that monkey is all washed up, I can get her a snack."

"Peanut butter sandwich, dad," Skye requested.

Phil smiled, "Noted."

Skye was washed and dressed in no time, and while Melinda went to look for Banks, Phil left PJ in his crib and went to the kitchen, to prepare a snack for Skye. The girl stayed with her little brother, lying face down in bed, making him smile by shaking his rattle toy. When PJ began to cry, Skye looked for his pacifier, put it in his mouth and quietly watched him, knowing that it wouldn't take long for him to fall back asleep.

The girl rolled over in bed, thinking of the frightening tale the boys had been telling her earlier, about a man who didn't make it to The Cocoon because he transformed into a monster and killed all the Inhumans he met along the way.

"HELEN?"

"Yes, Ms. Skye?" the AI's robotic voice answered.

"Is Lash really real?"

The AI responded, "Lash is an urban myth, therefore, not real."

"Are you sure?" the girl insisted.

"Positive."

Phil walked in the room and picked up his son in arms, "Sandwich's ready, Skye."

She lazily slid off bed and walked to the kitchen, her father following her suit, carrying his baby boy in arms.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Melinda asked as soon as the agents left the car.

Banks stopped, one foot inside the car, the other already touching the concrete floor, "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"You seem tense."

"I'm sorry if the idea of parents locking their teenage daughter in a garden shed because she's an Inhuman makes me a little tense," he said, shutting the door.

"I know when things are about children are harder, but this girl will need our support, so don't let on that you're upset."

The man sighed and ordered his men to walk to the house's front door, "I can't help it."

"I know." He looked back at Melinda, puzzled. "Rosalind's pregnant and you're worried."

"You sensed it?"

Melinda rolled her eyes, "Women's instinct, I suppose. My Inhuman powers don't go to that extent. And, if it matters anything to you, I think you're going to be a good father."

"Thank you. Now, let's focus on work again?"

"Of course."

While his agents arrested the parents, Banks walked to the garden shed and cracked the gray steel door open. It had no handle on the inside, and, on the wall, there was a ten-digit keypad with a red light snapping on and off. Other than the red light, there was only darkness. There was a faint background hum of a refrigerator. With the help of his flashlight, he started looking around at the small room. It had a reddish Persian-style rug on the floor, was ten foot a side, seven foot high, gabled ceiling rising to ten foot, a squared skylight on the ceiling, glimpsing only of the cloudy sky and the branch of the high tree.

"Hello? Anyone?" he called softly.

He noticed the dresser with a TV on top of it and the metal-framed bed with a rumpled bed sheet and a blanket at the foot of the bed. There was also a wardrobe with slatted louver doors on the corner of the room, a round dining table and a fold-up chair. That was the kitchen area, he realized. There was a small kitchen cabinet and a dish rack: two each of big and small white plates, bowls, tumblers, knives, forks, spoons (one with a melted handle), a scissors, can opener, serrated knife, wooden spoon, spatula, a basic stove (with folded rags on its handle, for pot holders), one frying pan and one saucepan. And, then there was the small refrigerator (with some books stacked on top) and a tiny trash by its side.

A bath with a single small towel over the side was placed at the other corner of the room. A toilet that didn't have a lid was right next to it, a sink, with a single worn toothbrush, toothpaste, dish soap, a broken comb, folded rags for washcloths.

A thud came from the wardrobe. Banks looked back at the agents and told them to stand by.

"Hello?" he tried again. "My name is Agent Banks and I'm with the Superhuman Tactical Activities Response Squad. Can you step out of the closet please?"

No response. Melinda then walked in the room, slowly, quietly.

"Raina," she gently called. "My name is Melinda May. I work with Agent Banks. I'm an Inhuman, just like you. Tell me, how are alright?"

"Yes," a tiny voice replied.

Banks stepped back and allowed Melinda to stand in front of the wardrobe. She could distinguish the silhouette of the teenager through the slatted louvers but couldn't tell much about her just yet.

"You've underwent a process called –"

"Terrigenesis," Raina told her. "I know. My grandmother told me the tales of the blue angels and how we are one of them."

"What else did she tell you?"

"That I'd be an angel, not some gnarled freak covered in thorns," she grumbled. "Even my parents locked me in here because they're ashamed of how I look."

"I'm sure you're making a making out of a molehill."

"You don't know how I look like."

"There's anything in this world that can surprise anymore." Melinda sighed, "Can you step outside, please?"

Raina eased the door of the wardrobe open and stepped out. She was wearing a hooded jacket, but upon looking at Melinda she removed the hoodie, revealing the black barbs that protruded from her head and face. She had no hair, her hands were clawed and her eyes golden, the pupils dark and big, resembling a feline's.

"You think I look hideous," Raina stated. "But nothing you say or think can put me down. I'm a survivor."

"I know you are. And you're too good to pity yourself."

"I know isolation, pain."

Melinda took a seat on the fold-up chair, "So do I. Think these powers didn't take some getting used to? Do you think that I didn't encounter adversities in my life? It took me a while to adjust, but once I realized my purpose, everything made sense. These gifts are deeply layered for people like us. Now I can go anywhere find our people, bring them together, help them."

"Well, what was the good in finding me?" the teenager sighed, sitting at the edge of the bed. "Because if I have a use, I don't know it."

"Yet. I will be your guide. People like us have to live differently, but it doesn't mean it can't be an amazing world. You know, I have a husband, human. We have two children; one is Inhuman, the other a hybrid. Things don't have to be bad for us just because we're different. So, do you let us help you?"

Raina covered her head with the hoodie again and walked to the door.


	12. Invincible

**This chapter is set 15 years in the future, so here's a guide for everyone's ages. Also, Elijah Banks is Rosalind and Banks' child, Lincoln's step-brother.**

 **Skye Coulson (22), Jemma Simmons (23), Leopold Fitz (23), Grant Ward (26), Lance Hunter (26), Lincoln Campbell (24), Phil "PJ" Coulson II (15), Elijah "Eli" Banks (14), Barbara "Bobbi" Morse (25) and Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie (35).**

* * *

 **(15 years later)**

 **The Playground – Location unknown**

Philip Coulson II and Elijah Banks, ages fifteen and fourteen respectively, were at The Playground's gym, sparring. PJ panted and ran his fingers through his dark hair, unintentionally spiking it up as he was soaked in sweat that trickled down his forehead. Eli was throwing punches and kicks non-stop; PJ was effectively dodging or blocking them. They usually had a bet going on, so their sparring sessions were more than just improving their fighting skills; none of them wanted to lose. Eli landed a roundhouse kick to PJ's side that caused the older to grunt and rub at his ribs.

"You're hurt, princess?" Eli mocked.

PJ rested his hands on his knees and breathed heavily with his head hanging low.

Eli was a bit worried; he decided to approach PJ, resting his hand on his shoulder, "Hey man, you're ok?"

Quickly, PJ tackled Eli, and flipped him over his shoulders, crashing him down onto the mat.

"What're you doin' down there, Banks?" PJ chuckled, hands resting on the side of his hips as he was looking down at Eli sprawled on the red mat. "Need a hand?" he grinned, holding out his left hand to pull Eli to his feet.

"You're a dick," Eli swatted his friend's hand, pressed his palms on the ground by his head and got up with a kip-up.

"And you're a show-off," PJ muttered, walking to the side of the room to get two bottles of water. He tossed one at Eli as he asked, "Shouldn't they be here by now?"

Eli shrugged and said before taking a big gulp of water, "I'm sure they're on their way. And we're not done yet."

"I know," PJ tossed the empty bottle in the trashcan and stepped into the ring, "Boxing tiebreaker?"

"Sure," the other agreed, entering the ring as well.

"That would have to wait boys," a voice said.

The teenagers' heads turned to where the voice had come from. Bobbi Morse was leaning on the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest.

"About damn time," Eli grumbled. He ran the few steps to the corner of the ring and with a short jumped he propped his feet on the lower row of ropes and held onto the ring post. "I'm starvin'!"

"So are we," Bobbi confessed with a soft chuckle. "The meeting took longer than what we expected."

"Well," PJ crooned, "the Secret Warriors did knock down the Mayor's house in the course of a mission. If I was him, I'd be pissed too."

"Get out of the ring, you smarty pants. We're waiting for you guys to dine," she told them before walking away. However, she did walk back a few steps to advised, "But take a shower first. We don't need two more people bringing strange odors to the dining table. We've got Hunter for that already."

The two walked out of the gym and parted ways as they strolled along the hall, heading into their own bunker rooms. After taking a shower and slipping into clean clothes, Eli and PJ showed up at the break room where the Secret Warriors team – Skye, Lincoln, Simmons, Fitz, Ward and Hunter – and the two SHIELD Agents in charge of coordinating the team – Bobbi Morse and Alphonso Mackenzie – were already having dinner. Eli and PJ only paid attention to the food, generously filling their plates. The two then squeezed themselves on the couch, sitting next to Ward, Hunter and Skye. Fitzsimmons sat on a small couch to their right, Lincoln had pulled out of a chair, same as Mack. Bobbi wasn't in the room; she was in Coulson's office.

"What're your thoughts, Agent Morse?"

"Their technique is improving by leaps and bounds. But they are still young for this. Maybe give them a year and then I'd consider giving them the chance to apply for the agency."

Coulson sighed and rested back on his chair, "PJ's always asking me and Melinda to let him do the tests. Rosalind and Banks told me that Eli asks them the same."

"Like I said, they're still young. But they're good."

"Would you train them? I'd ask Melinda but I have the feeling they'd run away as fast as they could."

Bobbi grinned, "It'd be a pleasure."

"Thank you. You can go now, Bobbi. Grab something to eat. And rest."

She nodded and left his office, heading to the break room.

"I want you wake by six tomorrow," Bobbi told PJ and Eli, clapping their shoulders.

"What? Why?" Eli mumbled through a mouthful.

"If you two want to apply for SHIELD's recruitment tests next year, you have to start working out now."

PJ's pupils dilated in excitement; he even dragged himself to sit at the edge of the seat, "Are you for real?"

Skye said, "I really hope Mom and Dad don't make me babysit you."

"You're the one who needs babysitting, _nǎocán,_ " PJ answered back, throwing a pillow at his sister. "Just because you have powers, it doesn't mean you're better."

"Shut up, _bèndàn_ ," Skye threw the pillow back at PJ.

"What kind of language is that?" May's voice roared as she was on the way to Coulson's office room.

Skye and PJ looked at each other and then at their mother, saying in unison, " _Duì bù qǐ_."

"And then you call our mother The Dragon Lady," Lincoln commented, casting a glance at Eli who was nodding his head emphatically.

Hunter snorted a laugh, "It serves you right; you two have foul mouths."

"Like you're any better, Hunter," Bobbi said, eyeing him.

Coulson stepped out of his office, running, and approached the laughing group, "Diner will have to wait. Rosalind just called. We have a difficult situation in Seattle; a guy who melts metals. It's getting out of hand."

"Gear up, guys," Mack told the team as he got up. "Any more intel?" he turned to his boss.

The Secret Warriors exited the room to prepare for the mission, Mack and Bobbi stayed in the break room, receiving more information on the Inhuman.

"All we know is that is name is Joey Gutierrez. There's no explanation as to how he transformed, but we'll have to figure that out once we safely contain him."

Mack and Bobbi nodded and left the room.

"It won't take long for our time to come too," PJ confided with his partner-in-crime.

"I know," Eli mumbled, stuffing his mouth with more macaroni. "But for now let 'em do the work. When our time comes, we'll be invincible, the best task force ever."

* * *

 **And this is it, this is the end. I hope you guys enjoyed this fanfiction.**


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